the moment they'll never let you forget
by radycat
Summary: "So pucker up, Superman, and give your Lois Lane part two a kiss." [Leo/Jason/Piper]


Jason sat in the remains of a doorway, watching the sky turn pink and then black, the arriving stars a thousand pinpricks of colored light. The cold air nipped at his ears and nose, but he didn't feel like getting up—didn't feel like returning to the warm campfire where Piper was with her earnest smile and ever-changing eyes. He didn't want the complicated pressures building in his chest, the weird moments of displacement that made him feel like he was an outsider. He use to feel normal with Piper and Leo; just his friend-turned-girlfriend and his best friend, causing problems and enjoying the simple things in life like blowing up toilets and letting loose scorpions into the home economics room. But now, as the days rolled forward and his fake-memories cleared, he was left with nothing but an empty head full of mixed emotions and names that wouldn't leave him alone.

Dakota… Gwen… Jason closed his eyes and tried to catch his past. It didn't work, just as it never had; he'd have better luck trying to catch smoke with his bare hands.

Reyna.

Uneasiness grew in him when Piper's laughter reached his ears, concentration torn between points that could never meet. Echoes of long meetings over maps and schedules, Leo's cackle at a successful prank, dark eyes and dark hair and a warrior's smile, the time Piper sat on Leo's shoulders for an entire day so they'd be taller than him—

He wanted to scream. He wanted a fight. He wanted answers. He wanted who he was back. He wanted what he had now, there in the crisp evening moment. Leo cooking breakfast tacos. Piper opting for eggs, tomatoes, and green peppers, and Jason would get a bit of everything and things would be perfect until another monster tried to kill them. Then they'd save Juno—Hera, and Jason would get his memories back and…and things would finally return to normal.

A hand on his shoulder startled him from his thoughts. He looked over.

Leo was smiling, eyes crinkled, and smelling distinctly of motor oil and breakfast bacon.

"Hey." He said quietly and took back to staring at the rolling hills and distant forests.

Leo sat beside him, close enough for their bare arms to touch. "What's up with you, man? The tacos are the other way and—might I say—fine as hell."

"Just thinking about stuff."

"Stuff," Leo echoed. "I, too, think about stuff, but typically over foods with my best friends."

Jason didn't feel much like replying and so they slipped into a comfortable silence, one filled with a crackling fire and the wind through broken shutters and the howl of a wolf in the distance. He listened to Leo shuffling his feet in the rocky grass, kicking at stones and shards of grass. A fondness crept into his chest unheeded, and he hoped Leo never lost his inability to remain still even when sitting down. He wanted to imprint the moment into memory. Call Piper over, take hold of her hand and listen to whatever she and Leo wanted to talk about, so when things got worse (because Jason knew they would) he could recall this night, where things were quiet and hopeless, but shared between friends who understood.

And then Leo rested his head against the slope of Jason's shoulder.

"Uh, Leo?"

"Shhh, dude, you're going to kill the mood."

"What mood?" Jason said, alarmed. What—oh gods—just Leo just try to hold his hand?! "L-Leo—Leo! I'm dating Piper."

"Uh-duh, but you should know, well, remember that sweet Piper and I are a packaged deal." He shrugged. "You're dating her which means you are also dating me."

"What?" Jason's voice cracked on the upswing.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Oh, come off it. I've seen the way you look at my ass. Gotta say you've got great taste. Probably why Piper decided to stick with you."

"Uh, but—I don't." Jason tried, alarmed by the heat sweeping across his cheeks and down his neck. It was one time. Jason thought no one had—

"So pucker up, Superman, and give your Lois Lane part two a kiss." Leo closed his eyes and leaned forward.

Jason swallowed heavily before shooting Piper a look.

The girl in question calmly bit into her breakfast taco and gave him a sly, unmerciful smirk.

* * *

end.


End file.
